Sundance to premiere Stephen Frears, Spike Lee films

LOS ANGELES — New movies by Stephen Frears and Spike Lee are among a star-studded line-up of world premieres scheduled for the Sundance Film Festival next month, organizers announced.

The big-name movies will appear in the Premieres section at the Jan 19-29 festival, the annual gathering of independent filmmakers founded by Robert Redford and hosted in the Utah mountain resort of Park City.

The official competition will include over 30 US films and 26 foreign features and documentaries from around the world.

Frears’ “Lay the Favorite,” starring Bruce Willis and Catherine Zeta-Jones, will feature in the out-of-competition section, as will Lee’s “Red Hook Summer,” about a boy spending a summer in Brooklyn with his grandfather.

“Featuring one of the most influential directors of all time returning to his Brooklyn roots as well as emerging filmmakers tackling big issues with sophistication beyond their experience, our Premieres section has much to offer,” Trevor Groth, the festival’s head of programming, said Monday.